Mission US Mission US is an interactive adventure game designed to improve the understanding of American history.
The first game in a planned series, Mission 1: “For Crown or Colony?” explores the reasons for Revolution through the eyes of both Loyalists and Patriots in 1770 Boston. This website provides information and materials to support the use of Mission 1 in your classroom. Suitable for: Grade 5 - Year 9 Resources: Mission US Classroom Guide - http://www.mission-us.org/pages/classroom-guide
Moshi Monsters
Moshi Monsters is a social networking online game targeted at children aged 7 to 14, in which a player adopts and cares for a monster. Solving educational puzzles leads to rewards called Rox, which can be used as currency to buy items for the adopted monster, such as food and furniture. Every day your child's monster will create a series of fun puzzles that test everything from vocabulary and arithmetic to logic and spatial skills - could be used in a blended fashion to teach civics, mathematics, literacy and responsible online behaviour. Suitable for: Grade 1-6 Resources:
Samorost
The goal of the Samorost games is to solve a series of puzzles and brain teasers. The puzzles are sequentially linked forming an adventure story. The game contains no inventory or dialogue, and the solving of puzzles mainly consists of clicking onscreen elements in the correct order. This makes it an ideal vehicle for creative writing and literacy. Suitable for: Grade 3 - Year 9 Resources: Samorsot 2 - http://amanita-design.net/samorost-2/
The Curfew
The Curfew is an adventure web-game created by Littleloud, published by Channel 4 and written by acclaimed comic book author, Kieron Gillen.
Set in 2027 in the heart of an authoritarian security state, The Curfew could be described as a miniature Canterbury Tales set in a not-so-distant future, where citizens must abide by government security measures and 'sub citizens' are placed under curfew at night.
The player must navigate this complex political world and engage with the characters they meet along the way to work out who they should trust in order to gain freedom.
Choose wisely and you could change the course of history. Choose poorly, and it'll be changed for you.
Murder Mysteries
A series of interactive murder mysteries made available by PBS. Suitable for: Grade 5 - Year 12
Dark Tales: Edgar Allen Poe
A dreadful murder and kidnapping has occurred in the Rue Morgue and only you can solve the dark crime! Follow the clues to find the killer and the missing family. Become the apprentice of the famed C. Auguste Dupin and solve the devious puzzles to find the hidden clues that will lead you to the monstrous murderer. Based on Edgar Allan Poe’s most acclaimed murder mystery, Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe’s Murder in the Rue Morgue is a fantastic Hidden Object game full of suspense and excitement. Suitable for: Grade 5 - Year 12
Inanimate Alice
Set in the early years of the 21st century, Inanimate Alice tells the story of Alice and her imaginary digital friend Brad. Through text, sound, images, music and games, the story of Alice becomes increasingly interactive and game-like, reflecting Alice's own developing skills as a game designer and animator. Suitable for: All ages Resources: The Inanimate Alice Education Pack can be downloaded from http://www.inanimatealice.com/education/edupack.pdf
Game Goo
Games that help develop early reading skills in the primary classroom. Suitable for: early primary
Brain Nook
BrainNook contains over a hundred educational games based on important concepts in the critical foundational subjects of Math and English Grammar. Children play these games while exploring colorful virtual worlds, safely competing and interacting with other children, and solving puzzles. Suitable for: Primary
Bioshock: The Unofficial Flash Game
What if BioShock had been developed in the style of an old-school 2D adventure game? Flash developer Norman von Scott decided to explore that alternate reality with the gorgeous hand-animated Prairie Dogging. Great for creative writing. Suitable for: All ages
The Typing of the Dead The Typing of the Dead released in 1999 based on The House of the Dead 2. While the latter is a standard light gun shooter, Typing replaces the gun with the keyboard. While the game is an educational game, as it requires players to enhance their typing skills to be successful, it has been praised by critics primarily for its comedic content. Suitable for: All ages
1066
1066 is the most famous date in British history, but how might events have been different if you had been commanding the armies that fought for control of England? Take part in our unique and historically accurate strategy game and you'll take the field with the Saxons, the Normans and the Vikings to fight out the visceral, dynamic battles which decided England's fate. Suitable for: All ages
Bioshock
Set in an alternate history 1960, the game places the player in the role of a plane crash survivor named Jack, who must explore the underwater city of Rapture, and survive attacks by the mutated beings and mechanical drones that populate it. The game received overwhelmingly positive reviews, which praised its "morality-based" storyline, immersive environment and its unique setting, inspired by Objectivist philosophy and rhetoric. Resources: Teaching Comparitive Literature with Bioshock - http://boomculture.blogspot.com/2009/12/teaching-comparative-literature-with.html Suitable for: Year 9 - Adult
Typing of the Ghosts
Learning typing is the focus of these keyboarding games. Learning keyboarding skills is vital for todays learners and tomorrows earners. These fun free typing games are a great way to build the foundation through typing skills that today's elementary school curriculum requires. These keyboarding games teach important skills for preschool and elementary school kids.... oh yeah, they're fun!
Hidden Identity
You awake in a Chicago hotel room with no memory of your name, who you are or how you ended up there. Explore 25 captivating Chicago locations to find cleverly hidden objects that will help you piece together your identity.
Uncover all the secret notes that you left behind and solve 5 different types of mini-games that will help jog your memory. Uncover your true identity today!
Where in the world is carmen sandiego?
Carmen Sandiego is an game that tests the player's knowledge about geography and general knowledge about different countries. Missions will begin with a treasure being stolen and the player flying to that location. A time limit counts down while they must search the area and interview witnesses to find enough clues to figure out what country the thief flew to next. The player always has a limited selection (usually three or four) of flights available in any given country. This process is repeated until either the villain is found or time expires and they are able to get away. Along with finding out where the thief has headed, the player must discover who the thief is, by best matching personal characteristics (gender, hair color, eye color, hobbies, notable features) to dossiers on Carmen's gang. There must be enough characteristics matched in order to obtain a warrant, which is essential to legally arrest the suspect once they have been found. Progress in arresting VILE members will expose other members, eventually leading up to Carmen Sandiego herself.
Historical Scene Investigation The Historical Scene Investigation Project (HSI) was designed for social studies teachers who need a strong pedagogical mechanism for bringing primary sources into their classroom.
Notpron Notpron (also not pr0n) is an onlinepuzzle which was launched in July 2004 by David Münnich of Saarbrücken, Germany. The puzzle has a linear format, requiring players to solve each level in turn before progressing to the next. Many of these levels require a high level of attention and imagination to find the correct solutions.
To date, Notpron has had nearly 15 million visitors, but only 24 of them have been able to solve all 140 levels.
Teach Your Monsters to Read
Teach your Monster to Read: First Steps offers a wonderful opportunity for children to practise these skills. The game challenges them to explore a fictional world and to complete a series of enjoyable challenges.
These challenges offer many opportunities for the children to develop their listening skills as they match letters to sounds. The game also models the process of blending and provides opportunities for children to listen to words and practise segmenting. Suitable for: Primary
Xenos Isle Xenos-ISLE is an open-source language learning portal—an online universe where people can gather and practice using a second language in natural and authentic ways through game play. Students are free to roam the world, chat and communicate with those they meet along the way. As they play, they can experience cultures in new ways, make connections and comparisons to other content areas, and be part of a rich multicultural and multilingual community where all visitors can practice listening, speaking, reading, and writing with a purpose. Ultimately, Xenos is more than a website, a single island in the cyberverse. And it’s more than a cool and fun way to learn a language. It is a living community of learners from around the world who are able to interact with, encourage, and support one another through games and activities.
Question Quest Question Quest: The Language Card Game is an educational card game which improves language learners’ ability to ask and answer questions found in everyday English conversation. Definately worth checking out. Suitable for: All ages
Text adventures are one of the oldest types of computer games and form a subset of the adventure genre. The player uses text input to control the game, and the game state is relayed to the player via text output. The largest company producing works of interactive fiction was Infocom, which created the Zork, series and many other titles, among them Trinityand The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy .Suitable for: All ages
Resources: Play 18 Infocom Text Advetures Online - http://www.xs4all.nl/~pot/infocom/
Choose your own adventures return - http://www.teachstory.org/?p=598
Teaching Interactive Fiction -
http://emshort.wordpress.com/how-to-play/teaching-if/
Mission US is an interactive adventure game designed to improve the understanding of American history.
The first game in a planned series, Mission 1: “For Crown or Colony?” explores the reasons for Revolution through the eyes of both Loyalists and Patriots in 1770 Boston. This website provides information and materials to support the use of Mission 1 in your classroom.
Suitable for: Grade 5 - Year 9
Resources: Mission US Classroom Guide - http://www.mission-us.org/pages/classroom-guide
Moshi Monsters is a social networking online game targeted at children aged 7 to 14, in which a player adopts and cares for a monster. Solving educational puzzles leads to rewards called Rox, which can be used as currency to buy items for the adopted monster, such as food and furniture. Every day your child's monster will create a series of fun puzzles that test everything from vocabulary and arithmetic to logic and spatial skills - could be used in a blended fashion to teach civics, mathematics, literacy and responsible online behaviour.
Suitable for: Grade 1-6
Resources:
The goal of the Samorost games is to solve a series of puzzles and brain teasers. The puzzles are sequentially linked forming an adventure story. The game contains no inventory or dialogue, and the solving of puzzles mainly consists of clicking onscreen elements in the correct order. This makes it an ideal vehicle for creative writing and literacy.
Suitable for: Grade 3 - Year 9
Resources: Samorsot 2 - http://amanita-design.net/samorost-2/
The Curfew is an adventure web-game created by Littleloud, published by Channel 4 and written by acclaimed comic book author, Kieron Gillen.
Set in 2027 in the heart of an authoritarian security state, The Curfew could be described as a miniature Canterbury Tales set in a not-so-distant future, where citizens must abide by government security measures and 'sub citizens' are placed under curfew at night.
The player must navigate this complex political world and engage with the characters they meet along the way to work out who they should trust in order to gain freedom.
Choose wisely and you could change the course of history. Choose poorly, and it'll be changed for you.
A series of interactive murder mysteries made available by PBS.
Suitable for: Grade 5 - Year 12
A dreadful murder and kidnapping has occurred in the Rue Morgue and only you can solve the dark crime! Follow the clues to find the killer and the missing family. Become the apprentice of the famed C. Auguste Dupin and solve the devious puzzles to find the hidden clues that will lead you to the monstrous murderer. Based on Edgar Allan Poe’s most acclaimed murder mystery, Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe’s Murder in the Rue Morgue is a fantastic Hidden Object game full of suspense and excitement.
Suitable for: Grade 5 - Year 12
Set in the early years of the 21st century, Inanimate Alice tells the story of Alice and her imaginary digital friend Brad. Through text, sound, images, music and games, the story of Alice becomes increasingly interactive and game-like, reflecting Alice's own developing skills as a game designer and animator.
Suitable for: All ages
Resources: The Inanimate Alice Education Pack can be downloaded from
http://www.inanimatealice.com/education/edupack.pdf
A game based on the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzeragld
Games that help develop early reading skills in the primary classroom.
Suitable for: early primary
BrainNook contains over a hundred educational games based on important concepts in the critical foundational subjects of Math and English Grammar. Children play these games while exploring colorful virtual worlds, safely competing and interacting with other children, and solving puzzles.
Suitable for: Primary
What if BioShock had been developed in the style of an old-school 2D adventure game? Flash developer Norman von Scott decided to explore that alternate reality with the gorgeous hand-animated Prairie Dogging. Great for creative writing.
Suitable for: All ages
The Typing of the Dead released in 1999 based on The House of the Dead 2. While the latter is a standard light gun shooter, Typing replaces the gun with the keyboard. While the game is an educational game, as it requires players to enhance their typing skills to be successful, it has been praised by critics primarily for its comedic content.
Suitable for: All ages
1066 is the most famous date in British history, but how might events have been different if you had been commanding the armies that fought for control of England? Take part in our unique and historically accurate strategy game and you'll take the field with the Saxons, the Normans and the Vikings to fight out the visceral, dynamic battles which decided England's fate.
Suitable for: All ages
Set in an alternate history 1960, the game places the player in the role of a plane crash survivor named Jack, who must explore the underwater city of Rapture, and survive attacks by the mutated beings and mechanical drones that populate it. The game received overwhelmingly positive reviews, which praised its "morality-based" storyline, immersive environment and its unique setting, inspired by Objectivist philosophy and rhetoric.
Resources: Teaching Comparitive Literature with Bioshock - http://boomculture.blogspot.com/2009/12/teaching-comparative-literature-with.html
Suitable for: Year 9 - Adult
Learning typing is the focus of these keyboarding games. Learning keyboarding skills is vital for todays learners and tomorrows earners. These fun free typing games are a great way to build the foundation through typing skills that today's elementary school curriculum requires. These keyboarding games teach important skills for preschool and elementary school kids.... oh yeah, they're fun!
You awake in a Chicago hotel room with no memory of your name, who you are or how you ended up there. Explore 25 captivating Chicago locations to find cleverly hidden objects that will help you piece together your identity.
Uncover all the secret notes that you left behind and solve 5 different types of mini-games that will help jog your memory. Uncover your true identity today!
Carmen Sandiego is an game that tests the player's knowledge about geography and general knowledge about different countries. Missions will begin with a treasure being stolen and the player flying to that location. A time limit counts down while they must search the area and interview witnesses to find enough clues to figure out what country the thief flew to next. The player always has a limited selection (usually three or four) of flights available in any given country. This process is repeated until either the villain is found or time expires and they are able to get away. Along with finding out where the thief has headed, the player must discover who the thief is, by best matching personal characteristics (gender, hair color, eye color, hobbies, notable features) to dossiers on Carmen's gang. There must be enough characteristics matched in order to obtain a warrant, which is essential to legally arrest the suspect once they have been found. Progress in arresting VILE members will expose other members, eventually leading up to Carmen Sandiego herself.
The Historical Scene Investigation Project (HSI) was designed for social studies teachers who need a strong pedagogical mechanism for bringing primary sources into their classroom.
Creative use of gaming as a vehicle for learning.
Notpron (also not pr0n) is an online puzzle which was launched in July 2004 by David Münnich of Saarbrücken, Germany. The puzzle has a linear format, requiring players to solve each level in turn before progressing to the next. Many of these levels require a high level of attention and imagination to find the correct solutions.
To date, Notpron has had nearly 15 million visitors, but only 24 of them have been able to solve all 140 levels.
Teach your Monster to Read: First Steps offers a wonderful opportunity for children to practise these skills. The game challenges them to explore a fictional world and to complete a series of enjoyable challenges.
These challenges offer many opportunities for the children to develop their listening skills as they match letters to sounds. The game also models the process of blending and provides opportunities for children to listen to words and practise segmenting.
Suitable for: Primary
Xenos-ISLE is an open-source language learning portal—an online universe where people can gather and practice using a second language in natural and authentic ways through game play. Students are free to roam the world, chat and communicate with those they meet along the way. As they play, they can experience cultures in new ways, make connections and comparisons to other content areas, and be part of a rich multicultural and multilingual community where all visitors can practice listening, speaking, reading, and writing with a purpose. Ultimately, Xenos is more than a website, a single island in the cyberverse. And it’s more than a cool and fun way to learn a language. It is a living community of learners from around the world who are able to interact with, encourage, and support one another through games and activities.
Question Quest: The Language Card Game is an educational card game which improves language learners’ ability to ask and answer questions found in everyday English conversation. Definately worth checking out.
Suitable for: All ages